highly sensitive power

I started creating this website within days of being laid off from a job I loved, in May of 2008. I’d been thinking of the website for a while and suddenly, unexpectedly, I had lots of free time to bring it to life, as I processed the lay-off and considered what to do next for income.

I’d never built a website before. The many days and weeks of floundering around as I researched, experimented, made mistakes, and crept forward occupied me and gave me a mission that filled the void where my job had been.

Over time, as the website went live and I shifted my focus to writing posts and e-books, I began to make contact with people who I connected with easily. They became my new colleagues.

Slowly, very slowly – often too slowly – the connections I made and the multitude of experiments I conducted using the website as a base began to steer my course. The website took on the role of mirror and path, showing me myself and showing me the way forward.

Bit by bit, I learned how to focus who I am and what I want for myself into services and products others value enough to pay for. Since the lay-off, I’ve been unwilling to put all my eggs in one basket again, preferring an income composed of lots of diverse sources, which feels more stable and within my control. This has taken longer to create, for me, than simply finding another job, and has had its rough patches – long ones, sometimes.

Over the past two years, I’ve done more than revive my income. I’ve come home, thanks to following the trail of Highly Sensitive Power. The spreadsheet where I track my income shows 16 different sources of income now. My colleagues have become my friends. And my path unwinds before me more clearly than ever.

Thank you for helping me. Your presence alone gave me fuel when I was stuck and stranded and needed power. Your emails and comments, the phone conversations we’ve had, the look in your eyes when we’ve met, and the connections we’ve made helped me see myself and love myself. I adore you.

What’s next? My current growth spurt has me grappling (for the first time in two years) with issues like having to choose between things I love because there’s only so much time in a day. If I love everything I’m doing, how do I choose which ones not to do, in order to sleep and stay balanced? Well, I’m figuring that out, in a floundering + learning sort of way.

In the process, I may not post articles here as often or as regularly as I have been, but I am still here, still curious, still creating, and still adoring you. Stay tuned.

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If you or someone you know is interested is writing a guest post for Highly Sensitive Power, or if you consider yourself successfully sensitive, I invite you to check out the guidelines below and send me your creation, which I’ll consider for publication on Highly Sensitive Power. See the About page for my email address.

Guest Posts – About 400 words on the topic of Highly Sensitive Power (the website’s tagline, “empowering sensitivity through curiosity, creativity, and community” and the many posts in the blog give you an idea of the broad scope of interpretation possible); not previously published anywhere else. Feel free to run possible topics by me before you write.

Successfully Sensitive – Answer the following questions, in this order: In what way are you most successfully sensitive? What or who has inspired you to embrace your sensitivity? What are your eternal fascinations? What quest currently captivates you? What is your favourite kind of support to give? Aim for succinct answers to the questions, rather than long ones. Include a 100-word-max bio (including a link or two to you, if you want) and a photo.

Related reading: Successfully Sensitive | Samantha Reynolds, Avoid the Rush – Finish Last

Photos by Grace